Cancer Curmudgeon posted this story about Ken Burns’ production of a documentary based on the book, “The Emperor of All Maladies.” Like her, I am very excited. I loved that book. I am very comforted by being able to put myself within a larger context and this book helped me do just that, in the early months of my diagnosis. My medical oncologist recommended that I read it as did my husband. I was also heartened by reading about the enormous strides that have been made in cancer assessment and treatment. I know that assessment and treatment of breast cancer is far from perfect but reading about the history and tracing the progression of the way my illness has been dealt with was very encouraging. The documentary is planned to air two years from now.

George Lakoff has retired as Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. He is now Director of the Center for the Neural Mind & Society (cnms.berkeley.edu).